Cleaning apparatus

ABSTRACT

A cleaning apparatus is provided. The cleaning apparatus includes a driving device for generating suction force, a head member including a suction path into which external air flows by way of the suction force, a dust collection device having one end connected to the head member and having a dust collection chamber, an opening/closing member disposed to divide the suction path from the dust collection chamber, and which includes an opening that allows the suction path to communicate with the dust collection chamber, a cover member which is connected to the opening/closing member to provide elastic force toward the suction path and which is rotated by way of the suction force to selectively open/close the opening, and a stopper member, which protrudes from one surface of the cover member to come in contact with the opening/closing member or the cover member to restrict the rotational angle of the cover member.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application, claiming priority under§ 365(c), of an International application No. PCT/KR2022/004001, filedon Mar. 22, 2022, which is based on and claims the benefit of a Koreanpatent application number 10-2021-0041355, filed on Mar. 30, 2021, inthe Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to a cleaning apparatus. More particularly, thedisclosure relates to a cleaning apparatus in which due to a stoppermember, a cover member for opening and closing a suction port of a dustcollection device rotates at a predetermined angle regardless of asuction force.

2. Description of Related Art

A cleaning apparatus is a machine for removing rubbish indoors andcleaning the same, and a vacuum cleaning apparatus is generally used athome. A vacuum cleaning apparatus sucks air by using a suction force ofthe driving device, and then separates rubbish in the sucked air by adevice such as a filter to clean the indoor space. The vacuum cleaningapparatus includes a dust collection device therein to filter rubbish bya predetermined filtering device in order to filter rubbish contained insucked air.

In a related art, there is a problem in that a cover member for openingand closing a suction port of a dust collection device is rotated at adifferent angle according to the intensity of a suction force, so that asize of flow path may vary according to the intensity of a suctionforce. In addition, when suction force is weak, elasticity of a covermember may be set to be small to secure a larger size of flow path. Inthis case, if suction force becomes strong, a cover member rotates at agreater angle. Due to this, there is a problem in that the cover membermay lose elasticity and be deformed, or rubbish is flown to the outsidebefore the cover member is closed.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination hasbeen made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentionedproblems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantagesdescribed below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to providea cleaning apparatus in which due to a stopper member, a cover memberfor opening and closing a suction port of a dust collection devicerotates at a predetermined angle regardless of a suction force.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a cleaning apparatus isprovided. The cleaning apparatus includes a driving device forgenerating suction force, a head member comprising a suction path intowhich external air flows by way of the suction force, a dust collectiondevice having one end connected to the head member and having a dustcollection chamber, an opening/closing member disposed to divide thesuction path from the dust collection chamber, and which comprises anopening that allows the suction path and the dust collection chamber tobe connected, a cover member which is connected to the opening/closingmember to have elastic force toward the suction path and which isrotated by way of the suction force to selectively open/close theopening, and a stopper member which protrudes from one surface of thecover member to come in contact with the opening/closing member or thecover member according to the rotation of the cover member and restrictsthe rotational angle of the cover member.

The cover member includes a fixed region fixed to the opening/closingmember, and a rotational region rotatably connected to the fixed regionand having the stopper member formed therein.

The stopper member may be in contact with the fixed region as the covermember rotates.

The rotational region may be formed of a soft material, and the fixedregion and the stopper member may be formed of a material having higherrigidity than the rotational region.

The rotational region includes a central region, and a peripheral regiondisposed to surround the central region and seated on an upper surfaceof the opening/closing member.

The peripheral region may have thickness thinner than the centralregion.

The opening/closing member includes a fixing hole, and the fixed regionincludes a protrusion protruding upward and being inserted into thefixing hole.

The stopper member may be inclined upwardly facing one end connected tothe opening/closing member of the cover member.

The stopper member includes an inclined region having one end connectedto one surface of the cover member and inclined upwardly facing one endof the cover member, and a support region extending from other end ofthe inclined region and inclined downwardly facing one end of the covermember.

The cover member may be formed of a soft material.

The stopper member may be in contact with a surface of theopening/closing member or the cover member as the cover member rotates.

The cover member may be connected to a rear side of the opening/closingmember.

The cleaning apparatus further includes an extension member slidablyconnected to an upper end of the dust collection device and connected tothe opening/closing member.

The cleaning apparatus further includes a sealing member disposed tosurround the opening/closing member and seal between the dust collectiondevice and the opening/closing member.

The cleaning apparatus further includes a first rubbish removal membersliding on the dust collection chamber to discharge rubbish in the dustcollection chamber, and a first connection member connecting the firstrubbish removal member and the opening/closing member.

The first connection member may be connected to at least one of a leftside, a right side, or a front side of the opening/closing member.

The opening/closing member may, when the first rubbish removal member iswithdrawn from the dust collection chamber, may move in a direction awayfrom the dust collection device and may open the dust collectionchamber, and when the first rubbish removal member is introduced intothe dust collection chamber, may move in a direction approaching thedust collection device and may close the dust collection chamber.

The dust collection chamber may be a first dust collection chamber, thecleaning apparatus further includes a cyclone provided to remove rubbishfrom air passing through the first dust collection chamber, and the dustcollection chamber may form the second dust collection chamber in whichrubbish separated from the cyclone is collected.

The cleaning apparatus further includes the second rubbish removalmember sliding on the first dust collection chamber and second dustcollection chamber to discharge rubbish in the second dust collectionchamber and a second connection member connecting the first rubbishremoval member and the second rubbish removal member.

The dust collection device includes a filtering device disposed withinthe dust collection chamber and filtering rubbish introduced through thehead member, and the first rubbish removal member may slide on onesurface of the filtering device to discharge rubbish within the dustcollection chamber.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning apparatus according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the cleaning apparatus of FIG.1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion A shown in FIG. 3 according toan embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion B shown in FIG. 3 according toan embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cover member according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a state in which a cover member isconnected to an opening/closing member according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a cover member rotatesaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an operation of emptying rubbish of thedust collection device of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure; and

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional diagram of a portion of the cleaningapparatus of FIG. 9 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of thedisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of thedisclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for thepurpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

It is to be understood that the terms such as “comprise” or “consist of”may, for example, be used to designate a presence of a characteristic,number, operation, element, component, or a combination thereof, and notto preclude a presence or a possibility of adding one or more of othercharacteristics.

In addition, it should be noted that the drawings as attached are justfor easy understanding of the disclosure, and are not illustrated asreally scaled, and dimensions of some elements may be exaggerated.

In the disclosure, components required for the description of eachembodiment of the disclosure are described and thus, the embodiment isnot necessarily limited thereto. Accordingly, some components may bechanged or omitted and other components may be added. In addition,components may be disposed and arranged in different independentdevices.

Furthermore, embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings and the contents described in theaccompanying drawings, but the disclosure is not limited or restrictedby embodiments.

Hereinbelow, the disclosure will be further described with reference tothe attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning apparatus according to anembodiment of the disclosure, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view ofthe cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaningapparatus of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 , a cleaning apparatus 1 according to anembodiment of the disclosure may include a driving device 10, a headmember 20, a dust collection device 100, an extension member 30, anopening/closing member 200, a cover member 300, and a stopper member400.

The driving device 10 may generate suction force. The driving device 10may include a fan motor unit 11, a battery 12, and a motor filter 13.

The fan motor unit 11 may be provided to introduce external air throughthe head member 20 and discharge the external air to an exhaust port102. The fan motor unit 11 may be disposed inside a case 101 of the dustcollection device 100.

The battery 12 may provide power necessary to drive the fan motor unit11. The battery 12 may be a chargeable battery.

The motor filter 13 may be provided to further filter the rubbish of theair before being introduced into the fan motor unit 11 once more. Themotor filter 13 may be disposed at an upper portion of the fan motorunit 11 along the direction in which the air having passed through thedust collection device 100 is discharged through the exhaust port 102.

The motor filter 13 may be disposed between the fan motor unit 11 andthe dust collection device 100. The motor filter 13 may filter therubbish from the air passing through the dust collection device 100. Themotor filter 13 may be provided as a mesh member.

Accordingly, the cleaning apparatus 1 may prevent the fan motor unit 11by rubbish or the like by the motor filter 13 and may dischargerelatively clean air through exhaust port 102.

The head member 20 may be provided to suck rubbish such as dust existingon a surface to be cleaned while moving on the surface to be cleaned.The head member 20 may include a suction path 21, a head switch 22, ahead assembly 23, and a neck 25.

The suction path 21 may be a flow path through which air moves from thehead assembly 23 to the dust collection device 100. External air may beintroduced into the suction path 21 by the suction force generated bythe driving device 10. The suction path 21 formed inside the headassembly 23 may be connected with the dust collection device 100 throughthe neck 25.

External air and rubbish introduced through the head assembly 23 may bemoved to the dust collection device 100 through the neck 25. The neck 25may be connected to a lower end portion of the dust collection device100. The neck 25 may be rotatably coupled to the head assembly 23. Asthe neck part 25 rotates with respect to the head assembly 23, the headassembly 23 may rotate with respect to the dust collection device 100connected to the neck 25. Accordingly, the degree of freedom of drivingmay be improved in the cleaning apparatus 1.

In the meantime, the head assembly 23 may include a drum brush. The drumbrush has a long cylindrical shape, and a brush (not shown) may bespirally provided on the outer circumferential surface in a directionaway from the outer circumferential surface. The drum brush may berotated by receiving power through a cable 24 disposed at the rear ofthe cleaning apparatus 1. The cable 24 may connect the battery 12 andthe drum brush and may be accommodated in the cleaning apparatus.

The head switch 22 is provided to fix or release the coupling state ofthe head member 20 and the dust collection device 100. The head switch22 may fix a location of the dust collection device 100 with respect tothe head member 20 by pressing a portion of the dust collection device100 coupled to the neck 25. When the dust collection device 100 is to beseparated from the head member 20, a user may separate the dustcollection device 100 from the head member 20 by pressing the headswitch 22 downward by the foot to release the dust collection device100.

As the head switch 22 is disposed in the head member 20, the user mayseparate the dust collection device 100 from the head member 20 as theuser presses the head switch 22 by using the foot while standing withoutbending the waist.

The dust collection device 100 may be provided such that rubbish suckedthrough the head member 20 is collected in a dust collection chamber110, 120. One end of the dust collection device 100 may be connected tothe head member 20. Specifically, a lower end of the dust collectiondevice 100 may be connected to the head member 20.

The dust collection device 100 may include a case 101 and the exhaustport 102. The case 101 may form an outer surface of the dust collectiondevice 100. The exhaust port 102 may be composed of a plurality ofexhaust holes. The exhaust port 102 may be formed to discharge thefiltered air. The exhaust port 102 may be formed on one portion of therear surface of the case 101.

The extension member 30 may be slidably connected to the upper portionof the dust collection device 100. The extension member 30 may form apart of the outer shape of the cleaning apparatus 1. The extensionmember 30 may be disposed on an upper portion of the cleaning apparatus1 so as to be easily gripped by a user. The extension member 30 may belocated at the other end opposite to one end in which the opening andclosing member 200 is disposed. When the user uses the cleaningapparatus 1, the user may push or pull the head member 20 while grippingthe extension member 30.

The extension member 30 may include a first button 31 for adjusting theoperation of the cleaning apparatus 1. The first button 31 is providedto receive an input regarding whether to operate the cleaning apparatus1 according to the intention of a user. The user may adjust the power ofthe cleaning apparatus 1 and the intensity of the suction force of thedriving device 10 through the first button 31.

The extension member 30 may include a second button 32 provided to fixor release the coupling state of the extension member 30 and the dustcollection device 100. The second button 32 may fix or release thelocation of the extension member 30.

For example, when the rubbish collected in the dust collection device100 is to be discharged to the outside, the user may press the secondbutton 32 to release the extension member 30 with respect to the dustcollection device 100, and slide the extension member 30 downward.

The opening/closing member 200 may be arranged to partition the suctionpath 21 and the dust collection chamber 110, 120. Specifically, theopening/closing member 200 is formed of a plate having a predeterminedthickness to partition the suction path 21 of the head member 20 and thefirst dust collection chamber 110 disposed above the suction path 21.

The opening/closing member 200 is connected to the extension member 30,and if the user pulls the extension member 30 downward, theopening/closing member 200 may move downward along with the extensionmember 30 and may expose the dust collection chamber 110, 120 outside.

The cover member 300 may be connected to the opening/closing member 200to have an elastic force toward the suction path, and is rotated by asuction force to selectively open and close the opening 210. That is,the cover member 300 is usually in a state of being supported on theupper surface 201 of the opening/closing member 200 and rotates upwardby the suction force generated by the driving device 10, and when thedriving device 10 is turned off, the cover member 300 may be rotateddownward again by the elastic force and recovered. The cover member 300may be formed of a soft material.

The stopper member 400 may protrude from one surface of the cover member300, and as the cover member 300 rotates, the stopper member 400 may bein contact with the opening/closing member 200 or the cover member 300to restrict a rotational angle of the cover member 300. A specific shapeof the cover member 300 and the stopper member 400 will be describedlater.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion A shown in FIG. 3 according toan embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portionB shown in FIG. 3 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 , the dust collection device 100 may form thefirst dust collection chamber 110 and a second dust collection chamber120 located below the first dust collection chamber 110 along adirection in which air introduced from the head member 20 is dischargedthrough the exhaust port 102.

A filtering device 111 may be disposed inside the case 101. The firstdust collection chamber 110 may collect a filtered rubbish when the airintroduced through the head member 20 passes through the filteringdevice 111.

The filtering device 111 may primarily filter the rubbish from the airintroduced through the head member 20. The filtering device 111 mayextend along a part of the inner surface of the case 101. The rubbishfiltered by the filtering device 111 may be collected in the first dustcollection chamber 110. The filtering device 111 may be provided as amesh member.

The air passing through the filtering device 111 may be secondarilyfiltered by the cyclone 122. The rubbish filtered by the cyclone 122 maymove downward and may be collected in the second dust collection chamber120. The air filtered by the cyclone 122 may move towards the drivingdevice 10.

The cyclone 122 may centrifugally separate rubbish, which is notfiltered in the first dust collection chamber 110, from air. As thecyclone 122 separates rubbish from the air passing through the filteringdevice 111 in a different manner from the filtering device 111, thecleaning efficiency of cleaning apparatus 1 according to an embodimentof the disclosure may be improved.

Also, the cleaning apparatus may further include a first rubbish removalmember 130 sliding on the first dust collection chamber 110 to dischargerubbish in the first dust collection chamber 110 and a first connectionmember 140 connecting the first rubbish removal member 130 and theopening/closing member 200. The first rubbish removal member 130 may beconnected to the extension member 30. That is, when the user pushes theextension member 30 downward, the extension member 30, the first rubbishremoval member 130, and the opening/closing member 200 may moveintegrally downward.

The first rubbish removal member 130 may include a first sweep member131 formed of an elastic material. The first sweep member 131 may beformed to be in close contact with the inner wall of the filteringdevice 121.

The first sweep member 131 may be provided to come into close contactwith one surface of the filtering device 121 on which rubbish isfiltered. When the extension member 30 slides with respect to the dustcollection device 100, the first sweep member 131 may slide while beingin close contact with the inner surface of the filtering device 121.When the first sweep member 131 makes the extension member 30 slideinside the dust collection device 100, the first sweep member 131 mayscrape the inner surface of the filtering device 121 and remove rubbishsuch as hair tangled on the inner surface of the filtering device 121.

The opening/closing member 200 may open the first dust collectionchamber 110 by moving in a direction away from the dust collectiondevice 100 when the first rubbish removal member 130 is withdrawn fromthe first dust collection chamber 110, and may close the first dustcollection chamber 110 by moving in a direction approaching the dustcollection device 100 when the first rubbish removal member 130 isinserted into the first dust collection chamber 110.

The cleaning apparatus 1 further includes a cyclone 122 provided toremove rubbish from the air passing through the first dust collectionchamber 110, and the dust collection device 100 may form a second dustcollection chamber 120 in which rubbish separated from the cyclone 122is collected.

Also, the cleaning apparatus 1 may further include the second rubbishremoval member 150 sliding on the first and second dust collectionchambers 110, 120 to discharge rubbish in the second dust collectionchamber 120 and a second connection member 160 connecting the first andsecond rubbish removal members 130, 150.

That is, when the user pushes the extension member 30 downward, theextension member 30, the second rubbish removal member 150, and thefirst rubbish removal member 130 may move downward together.

The second dust collection chamber 120 may be formed between the firstrubbish removal member 130 and the second rubbish removal member 150. Inthe second dust collection member 120, rubbish filtered by the cyclone122 may be collected.

The second rubbish removal member 150 may include the second sweepmember 151. The second sweep member 151 may include an elastic material.The second sweep member 151 may move while sliding in a state of beingin close contact with the inner surface of the case 101 so as todischarge rubbish of the second dust collection chamber 120 when theextension member 30 slides with respect to the dust collection device100. Accordingly, the second sweep member 151 may empty all of therubbish of the second dust collection chamber 120.

The first rubbish removal member 130 may include a first sweep member131 formed of an elastic material. The first sweep member 131 may beformed to be in close contact with the inner wall of the filteringdevice 121.

The first sweep member 131 may be provided to come into close contactwith one surface of the filtering device 121 on which rubbish isfiltered. When the extension member 30 slides with respect to the dustcollection device 100, the first sweep member 131 may slide while beingin close contact with the inner surface of the filtering device 121.When the first sweep member 131 makes the extension member 30 slideinside the dust collection device 100, the first sweep member 131 mayremove rubbish such as hair tangled on the inner surface of thefiltering device 121 by scrapping the inner surface of the filteringdevice 121.

The extension member 30 may be connected to the opening/closing member200 configured to open or close the first dust collection chamber 110.The opening/closing member 200 may be disposed at one end facing thehead member 20 of the extension member 30.

The opening/closing member 200 may be configured to be in associationwith the first rubbish removal member 130 and the second rubbish removalmember 150. As the opening/closing member 200 is in association with thefirst rubbish removal member 130 and/or the second rubbish removalmember 150, the first dust collection chamber 110 may be prevented frombeing unintentionally opened, and the first and second dust collectionchambers 110, 120 may be opened only when the rubbish is to bedischarged.

The opening/closing member 200 may include an opening 210 to connect thesuction path 21 and the first dust collection chamber 110.

The opening/closing member 200 may be provided to move in a directionaway from the dust collection device 100 to open the first dustcollection chamber 110 when the first rubbish removal member 130 slidesand moves from the first dust collection chamber 110.

The opening/closing member 200 may be provided to move toward the dustcollection device 100 so as to close the first dust collection chamber110 when the first rubbish removal member 130 slides into and isinserted into the first dust collection chamber 110.

The opening/closing member 200 may open or close the first dustcollection chamber 110 as the extension member 30 slides with respect tothe dust collection device 100. The opening and closing member 200 mayinclude an opening 210 formed to allow air introduced from the headmember 20 to flow into the first dust collection chamber 110. Theopening 210 may be opened and closed by the cover member 300.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cover member according to anembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a state inwhich a cover member is connected to an opening/closing member accordingto an embodiment of the disclosure, and FIG. 8 is a diagram illustratinga state in which a cover member rotates according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 6 to 8 , the cover member 300 may include a fixedregion 310 fixed to the opening/closing member 200 and a rotation region320 rotatably connected to the fixed region 310 and having a stoppermember 400 formed therein.

The stopper member 400 may be in contact with the fixed region 310 ofthe cover member 300 as the cover member 300 rotates. In the meantime, atarget in contact with the stopper member 400 is not limited thereto andthe stopper member 400 may be in contact with the opening/closing member200.

Accordingly, the cover member 300 may not rotate beyond a predeterminedangle. That is, regardless of the intensity of the suction forcegenerated by the driving device 10, the cover member 300 may rotate onlyup to a designated angle due to the stopper member 400.

For example, if the driving device 10 operates, the cover member 300 mayrotate only at a preset angle within the range of 30 degrees to 40degrees. The rotational angle of the cover member 300 is not limitedthereto.

Accordingly, regardless of the suction force of the driving device 10,the same size of flow path may be secured between the head member 20 andthe dust collection device 100.

In addition, as the cover member 300 having elasticity is not rotatedbeyond a predetermined angle, deformation of the cover member 300 can beminimized and elasticity may be maintained continually.

The rotation region 320 of the cover member 300 may be formed of a softmaterial, and the fixed region 310 of the cover member 300 and thestopper member 400 may be formed of a material having higher rigiditythan the rotation region 320.

Accordingly, when the cover member 300 rotates, the fixed region 310 andthe stopper member 400 do not slide or deform each other and may be instably contact to each other while maintaining a fixed shape.

The rotation region 320 of the cover member 300 may include a centralregion 321 and a peripheral region 322 disposed to surround the centralregion 321 and seated on an upper surface 201 of the opening/closingmember 200. The peripheral region 322 may have a thinner thickness thanthe central region 321.

Since the central region 321 of the cover member 300 has a thickthickness, the cover member 300 may not be easily deformed even by astrong suction force. Accordingly, the cover member 300 may be stablyrotated while maintaining the shape, and may open the opening 210 of theopening/closing member 200.

The peripheral region 322 of the cover member 300 has a thin thicknessso that the cover member 300 may be easily deformed. Accordingly, evenif small dust is on the upper surface 201 of the opening/closing member200, the peripheral region 322 may be completely in close contact withthe upper surface of the opening/closing member 200 as the shape isdeformed corresponding to dust. In other words, when the driving device10 is turned off and the cover member 300 is restored, the peripheralregion 322 may be easily deformed and the cover member 300 maycompletely close the opening 210 of the opening/closing member 200.

The opening/closing member 200 may include a fixing hole 220, and thefixed region 310 may include a protrusion 311 protruding upward andinserted into the fixing hole 220. Accordingly, the fixed region 310 ofthe cover member 300 may be stably coupled to the opening/closing member200 without being separated from the opening/closing member 200.

In addition, the cover member 300 may be connected to the rear side ofthe opening/closing member 200. Accordingly, when the user finishescleaning in a state in which the dust collection device 100 is tiltedbackward (see FIG. 9 ), even if the dust in the first dust collectionchamber 110 falls downward due to gravity, the rear side of the opening210 of the opening/closing member 200 where the dust is first dropped isalready closed by the cover member 300 and the phenomenon that the dustin the first dust collection chamber 110 is discharged to the suctionpath 21 of the head member 20 may be minimized.

The stopper member 400 may be disposed downwardly inclined toward theone end 301 connected to the opening/closing member 200 of the covermember 300.

Specifically, the stopper member 400 may include an inclined region 410having one end connected to one surface of the cover member 300 andarranged to be upwardly inclined toward one end 301 of the cover member300 and a support region 420 extending from the other end of theinclined region 410 and arranged to be downwardly inclined toward oneend 301 of the cover member 300.

By the stopper member 400 having the above shape, the support region 420may be stably supported in a state in which the support region 420 is incontact with the fixed region 310 or the opening/closing member 200 in awide area.

The stopper member 400 may vertically come into contact with theopening/closing member 200 or the cover member 300 on asurface-to-surface basis as the cover member 300 rotates. Accordingly,even when a strong suction force is applied to the cover member 300, thestopper member 400 is stably supported by the opening/closing member 200or the cover member 300, and thus the cover member 300 may maintain arotational angle.

In the meantime, the cleaning apparatus may further include a sealingmember 230 disposed to surround the opening/closing member 200 to sealbetween the dust collection device 100 and the opening/closing member200.

The sealing member 230 may be arranged along the edge of theopening/closing member 200. The sealing member 230 may include amaterial having elasticity. The sealing member 230 may be configured byincluding a material which is more flexible than that of theopening/closing member 200.

The sealing member 230 may be in close contact with an inner surface ofthe case 101 and may seal the first dust collection chamber 110.Accordingly, the cleaning apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure may prevent rubbish from being discharged from the first dustcollection chamber 110.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an operation of emptying rubbish of thedust collection device of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure, and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional diagram of a portion of thecleaning apparatus of FIG. 9 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 , when the user wishes to remove dustcollected in the dust collection device 100 after the cleaning operationis finished, the user may push the extension member 30 downward whilepressing the second button 32 to slide the dust collection device 100.

At this time, all of the extension member 30, the driving device 10, thesecond rubbish removal member 150, and the opening/closing member 200that are integrally connected may move downward.

When the extension member 30 slides inside the dust collection device100, the opening/closing member 200 disposed at one end of the extensionmember 30 may open the first dust collection chamber 110, and the firstand second rubbish removal members 130, 150 may slide and dischargerubbish in the first and second dust collection chambers 110, 120 to theoutside. The second rubbish removal member 150 may discharge rubbish ofthe second dust collection member 120 and at the same time maysecondarily discharge rubbish in the first dust collection chamber 110.For this, the first and second rubbish removal members 130, 150 may moveto a location protruding to the outside of the dust collection device100.

After rubbish discharge of the first and second dust collection chambers110, 120 is completed, the user may move the extension member 30 in thedirection of withdrawing from the dust collection device 100, andaccordingly, the opening/closing member 200 may move to a location toclose the first dust collection chamber 110.

According to this configuration, the cleaning apparatus 1 according toan embodiment of the disclosure may easily empty the rubbish of the dustcollection device 100 with a relatively simple operation. In addition,the opening/closing member 200 is provided to open and close the firstand second dust collection chambers 110, 120 only when the rubbish ofthe dust collection device 100 is discharged, thereby preventing therubbish from being scattered even when the dust collection device 100 isseparated from the head member 20.

In the meantime, the first connection member 140 may be connected to atleast one of the left, right, and front sides of the opening/closingmember 200. Accordingly, when dust is empty in a state in which the userobliquely tilts the dust collection device 100 backward, the dust in thefirst dust collection chamber 110 may be easily discharged to theoutside without being disturbed by the first connection member 140.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference tovarious embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cleaning apparatus comprising: a driving devicefor generating suction force; a head member comprising a suction pathinto which external air flows by way of the suction force; a dustcollection device having one end connected to the head member and havinga dust collection chamber; an opening/closing member disposed to dividethe suction path from the dust collection chamber, and which comprisesan opening that allows the suction path and the dust collection chamberto be connected; a cover member which is connected to theopening/closing member to have elastic force toward the suction path andwhich is rotated by way of the suction force to selectively open/closethe opening; and a stopper member which protrudes from one surface ofthe cover member to come in contact with the opening/closing member orthe cover member according to the rotation of the cover member andrestricts a rotational angle of the cover member.
 2. The cleaningapparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover member comprises: a fixed regionfixed to the opening/closing member; and a rotational region rotatablyconnected to the fixed region and having the stopper member formedtherein.
 3. The cleaning apparatus of claim 2, wherein the stoppermember is in contact with the fixed region as the cover member rotates.4. The cleaning apparatus of claim 3, wherein the rotational region isformed of a soft material, and wherein the fixed region and the stoppermember are formed of a material having higher rigidity than therotational region.
 5. The cleaning apparatus of claim 2, wherein therotational region comprises: a central region; and a peripheral regiondisposed to surround the central region and seated on an upper surfaceof the opening/closing member.
 6. The cleaning apparatus of claim 5,wherein the peripheral region has thickness thinner than the centralregion.
 7. The cleaning apparatus of claim 2, wherein theopening/closing member comprises a fixing hole, and wherein the fixedregion comprises a protrusion protruding upward and being inserted intothe fixing hole.
 8. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein thestopper member is inclined upwardly facing one end connected to theopening/closing member of the cover member.
 9. The cleaning apparatus ofclaim 7, wherein the stopper member comprises: an inclined region havingone end connected to one surface of the cover member and inclinedupwardly facing one end of the cover member; and a support regionextending from other end of the inclined region and inclined downwardlyfacing one end of the cover member.
 10. The cleaning apparatus of claim1, wherein the cover member is formed of a soft material.
 11. Thecleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the stopper member is in contactwith a surface of the opening/closing member or the cover member as thecover member rotates.
 12. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecover member is connected to a rear side of the opening/closing member.13. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: an extensionmember slidably connected to an upper end of the dust collection deviceand connected to the opening/closing member.
 14. The cleaning apparatusof claim 1, further comprising: a sealing member disposed to surroundthe opening/closing member and seal between the dust collection deviceand the opening/closing member.
 15. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: a first rubbish removal member sliding on the dustcollection chamber to discharge rubbish in the dust collection chamber;and a first connection member connecting the first rubbish removalmember and the opening/closing member.